


His Guardian Angel

by TheRomanDisaster



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Forbidden Love, High School, LingFan - Freeform, Prom, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-07 00:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1878144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRomanDisaster/pseuds/TheRomanDisaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern!LingFan. Ling Yao is the twelfth son of the owner of Xing, a revolutionary company that sells mainly smartphones and all sorts of modern technology. Lan Fan is a member of the Chen Family, a family whose sole purpose is to serve the Yao Family, and she intends on doing so by becoming Ling's bodyguard. The two of them have been together for as long as they can remember, but when Ling devotes his attention to the Philosopher's Stone, the most sophisticated piece of technology known to man, and when his curiosity leads him to trouble ... even Lan Fan doubts that the young lord will be able to make it out of his current situation unharmed, especially if the Homunculi are involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ordinary life.

“ _and I'm done, done, done with this ordinary,  
_ _this whole thing is temporary,  
_ _done, done, done with this ordinary life.”_  
– **simple plan.  
  
**

Lan Fan doesn't necessarily like school.

It's mainly because of the uniform. She's still able to perform self-defense wearing the annoying black uniform skirt she is forced to wear everyday, but it is not as easy. Not to mention the fact that the polished black shoes are a nuisance as well. She's an assassin for the sake of the Yao clan – how did she end up in a classroom that enforces nothing but discipline, which in turn inspires these teenagers to be delinquents?

She doesn't consider the work and the homework a big deal – she has some of the best grades in the entire school. She's been taught well by her grandfather, after all. (Not only has he taught her the self-defense that makes her a great assassin, he has taught her subjects she deems unimportant, but she has him to thank for now that Lady Xue Yao has sent her to the same prestigious school that Master Ling goes to so she can easily protect him.)

Back to the present.

Lan Fan doesn't know what her History teacher – Sir Havoc – is talking about, so she lazily drums her fingers on the wooden desk. The Yao boy sits beside her, and he is busy jotting down notes, but whether they are related to what their history teacher is talking about or not, she doesn't know for sure, and frankly, she doesn't care. Leave him to worry about his own schoolwork. Her only job is to protect him, and that is the only thing she intends to do until her dying breath.

She can't deny that she seems to be concerned about him a lot more often than she should be, though. Their relationship is _more_ than Master and Assassin. The two of them are best friends as well.

(Some in their school think that their relationship is _more than_ best friends, but she can't say anything about that. She keeps their relationship strictly professional.)

She takes a look at his notes. She has some trouble decoding his messy handwriting, but it's familiar to her (sort of) and she eventually understands it. Certain phrases and words he's jotting down is at least related to the subject of the fall of the Roman Empire, so at least he's doing his work.

It shocks her, it really does, but she's seen him reading books about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire before.

She looks at him, but he doesn't seem to notice. She's never seen it before, but Ling is actually attractive. His long black hair is tied back into a ponytail, and his habit of breaking the dress code rules on a daily basis is something she's grown to be fond of. Today, he's wearing a yellow shirt under the white button-up long-sleeved boys' uniform shirt, which he left unbuttoned, his sleeves rolled up.

Ling eventually catches her looking at him, and she smiles upon seeing his squinty eyes, a feature he's been teased for. “Is something on my face, Lan Fan?” the Yao boy asks quietly as he clicks and unclicks his pen over and over.

(It's a habit that she's so annoyed of, but she can live. He's her best friend.)

“Nothing, Ling,” she whispers back, even quieter. “Don't worry about it.” He looks at her, a smile lingering on his lips. She pretends not to notice, then he proceeds to write more notes.

Sir Havoc is interrupted when the school bell rings, and he dismisses the class with a wave of his hand. As everyone heads out, Lan Fan waits for Ling to finish shoving his books in his backpack so she can walk him to his next class despite his insistence.

“Lan Fan, you should head out to your next class,” he says as they both walk out of the classroom. The two of them avoid getting trampled by the rest of the high school students. She ignores him and continues to walk with him to his class.

He sighs, suddenly stops walking. She raises an eyebrow, and he replies, “No … seriously, Lan Fan. I don't want you to be late again because of me.”

She shrugs. _Doesn't matter_ , her eyes say. _I have to protect you_.

“Please, Lan Fan?” he pleads with puppy-dog eyes. “ _Please_?”

She doesn't look impressed. She shakes her head. _A no is a no._

He almost gets irritated, but he never does, really. Not with her. “Lan Fan,” he clears his throat, trying to sound demeaning. “That is an _order_ and I expect you to follow it.”

She stares at him for a while, then sighs. She's always hated it when he did that. “Fine.” she answers coolly. Lan Fan knows that she can never disobey a direct order from the young lord himself. (And, in truth, he doesn't usually give her strict orders; only does when he thinks it's for her benefit. She's stubborn, and she doesn't like to admit it – she will put his safety and well-being and comfort before hers. Always.)

“Hey,” he says, his voice a little quieter this time. “I'll be fine, Lan Fan. Nothing will happen to me in an hour and a half. I can protect myself just fine, you know?”

“Yes,” she agrees. “But I'm the one who usually does the protecting around here.”

 

\- - - - -

 

“Hey, Lan Fan! Wait up!”

She stops in her tracks and waits for the girl to catch up. Lan Fan has to admit, she's incredibly surprised to see Winry, the blond-haired girl who aspires to be an automail mechanic, running up to her. Lan Fan talks to her outside of class, but the two girls never hang out outside of school, and considering her busy schedule, it's like she has time.

“You haven't been texting me the past couple of days.” Winry points out, her voice indicating that she is concerned, at least to an extent. “Is there something going on?”

“No, I-I had to babysit.” Lan Fan replies, and it isn't exactly a lie, with her having to guard Ling and protect him from any threat as if her life depends on it. “Sorry about that, Winry.” the tone in her voice probably didn't make her sound apologetic at all, but it seems as if in normal conversations, she speaks in a monotone voice.

“No, no, it's okay, it's just–” Winry stops. “I feel like I'm doing something wrong. You're not talking to me and Paninya anymore and I just wonder why. You've been hanging around Ling Yao lately and we understand that you like him–”

“I do not like him.” she says simply.

“I–” the aspiring mechanic sounds as if she is taken aback by this piece of information. “You don't? But it looks like the two of you are dating considering you're together almost all the time, and people just say things and I thought…”

“Ling and I are not dating.”

The two of them walk in silence, when they stop outside of the classroom where their next class is in. “Then what's wrong?” Winry asks her, almost demands. “You just stopped talking to me and Paninya like something happened! If it's something we did, we're sorry!”

Lan Fan sighs. “Winry…”

“Ladies, something wrong?” Professor Falman – their English professor – asks. “Because we have an important class ahead of us. I hope you two didn't forget to write your book reports, because they count as twenty-five per cent of your grade!”

Defeated, Winry and Lan Fan take a seat inside the classroom, preparing themselves for the worst, because whenever Professor Falman says that they have an “important class ahead,” that usually involves him explaining the mechanics of the English language until his students' brains stop working.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Ordinary Life" is a song by Simple Plan on their EP, Get Your Heart On - The Second Coming! I recommend it to you - well, they are my favorite band - but it's actually a pretty good song!
> 
> Characters (c) whoever owns Fullmetal Alchemist  
> Fanfiction (c) TheRomanDisaster
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos/comment!


	2. ii. anywhere else but here.

 

“I wish that I could snap my fingers  
and make myself disappear.  
'cause I'd rather be anywhere else,  
anywhere else, anywhere else but here.”  
– **simple plan.  
  
**

“Yao,” a gangly seventeen-year-old teenager clad in leather and black scoffs as he lights out his cigarette, stomping down on the once-lit cigarette with a heavy leather boot. “Didn't think you'd come.”

“Hm,” Ling replies with a curt nod. “And why is that, Greed?”

Lust, the promiscuous eleventh-grade girl in the cheerleading team replies for him. “Sweetie, we never did take you as the type of person to skip classes.” she says simply, in the same voice that sends shivers down his spine. “How _did_ you manage to get rid of your pesky bodyguard, anyway?”

“Hey!” Ling protests. “Lan Fan isn't my pesky bodyguard! She's my best friend!”

“You don't raise your voice when talking to my Lust!” the overweight boy named Gluttony growls and stands in front of the cheerleader menacingly and possessively. Ling only ignores him. He's never really considered Gluttony worthy of his time.

“Quite a stud, isn't this one?” Greed smirks. “How long have you been hiding your girl?”

The future owner of Xing doesn't say anything to that, only ignores the eleventh-grade delinquent. He knows that anything he says will fuel Greed's amusement. He instead changes the topic. “But you have the blueprints to the Philosopher's Stone … _right_?”

The Philosopher's Stone. The one piece of technology that Xing _still_ doesn't know how to make. It's a revolutionary gadget capable of doing almost anything. No one's sure how to produce one, but it normally looks like a black box and Ling doesn't understand the molecular structure of the gadget, but it morphs into the owner's desired object.

If he possesses the blueprints to this thing, he'd have Xing, no objections from its current owner – his father – whatsoever. If he somehow knew how to create a Philosopher's Stone, then his promise to Lan Fan will be fulfilled and he will rule Xing and lead humanity to an era of advanced technology and sciences.

And this group – Lust, Greed, and Gluttony, those who call themselves _Homuncul_ _i_ – somehow managed to have the information on its creation.

“Right here, Yao.” Lust replies, patting the cherry red Gucci purse dangling from her arm. “But before you get it … we need to make sure you're at least worthy.”

“Worthy my _ass_ ,” Ling growls, and it takes everything in his willpower not to throw himself at any of them. “You said that you'd help me destroy all competition to rule Xing! You said–”

“Ling Yao!” Miss Riza Hawkeye, the school's vice principal, calls out, and he freezes in sheer terror and curses under his breath. Of anyone who could've caught him skipping English class, it's the scariest staff member in all of Amestris Park High. “Is that you?”  
  


\-    -    -    -    -  
  


This has been the fifth time in the entire week that Ling, the future owner of the Xing mobile company, has been punished with after-school detention for breaking the school's  _dress code_ .

And for skipping classes as well, but Mustang has never really thought that skipping classes is a big deal. He doesn't take the offense to the school's dress code very lightly, however.

Many who are forced to spend an hour in  an empty classroom  after school  with Sir Roy Mustang are delinquents who  got caught skipping classes and/or picking fights and/or “smuggling in inappropriate substances,” despite the fact that Roy Mustang has been caught drinking alcohol with History teacher Jean Havoc sometimes.

Ling looks around the room. He knows some of these  people. Edward Elric is a frequent visitor in the detention room, and, at times, his brother Alphonse as well, despite the latter being a smart kid who usually stays out of trouble. Al usually stays in detention to make sure that his older brother stays out of even more trouble (if that's even possible.)

“Ling Yao,” Mustang glares down at the squinty-eyed fifteen-year old. The principal of Amestris Park High looks somewhat intimidating, Ling admits, but he knows the principal better than almost any student (except for the Elrics, perhaps.) Sir Mustang finally shakes his head. “Fancy seeing you here for the fifth time this week. What have you been up to this time?”

Ling shrugs. “A lot of things,”

“Like?” the principal sounds as if he is growing impatient.

“Skipping classes, I guess, and … well …” the teenager gestures to his outfit. He's wearing the usual school uniform – a white button-up shirt and a pair of black pants – but his button-up shirt is rolled up and his arms are plastered with multiple band-aids. The shirt also remains unbuttoned, showing off his bare torso. 

Mustang looks unamused. “This isn't a laughing matter, _Yao_.” the use of his surname makes Ling freeze. “You're the future owner of the Xing company. Do you understand how big of a responsibility that is? To be able to lead a company … I don't think you have what it takes–”

“Please,” Ling interrupts his superior. “You underestimate me. I think I'm perfectly capable of running a company. It's what I was raised to do my entire life.”

Mustang is about to open his mouth to say something, when Hawkeye calmly enters the room, with Lan Fan trailing behind, much to the surprise of the twelfth son of the owner of Xing. “Another student that deserves a detention, Principal Mustang, sir.” she says firmly.

Ling has seen Lan Fan so many times before, but almost never outside her all-black outfit she wears when she's on guard duty. She looks different in her uniform – a white button-up blouse and a navy skirt that hitches up above her knees – but _good_ different. He doesn't know how to explain it. He's unable to explain how his heartbeat can increase just by seeing her, really.

“Miss Lan Fan?” Mustang asks incredulously, unable to believe that one of the best students in his entire school, of all people, is in _detention_. “Hawkeye? What's going on?” he demands an answer from his workmate, a blonde woman named Riza Hawkeye who so happens to be his vice principal.

“Lan Fan got in a fight with Edward Elric. Eyewitnesses claim that she had been the one to start it, sir.” Hawkeye replies coolly.

“Is this true, Miss Chen?” Mustang asks her immediately, only for her to reply with a silent shrug. He stares at her quizzically for a while, as if to study her, then sighs exasperatedly. He gestures to the seat beside Ling's. “Take a seat next to Mister Yao, please. You are to join us for after-school detention.”

“I expect absolute silence in this room.” Principal Mustang orders. “I will leave Hawkeye in charge. Until then, I expect you to treat her with respect.” That's sure to shut everyone up, Ling thinks. To tell the truth, Hawkeye is way scarier than Mustang. No one wants to get on her bad side.

 _Dammit_ , Ling curses to himself and sinks back to his seat, because he knows that he will never be able to excuse himself out of detention if Miss Hawkeye is the one in charge. Because in all honesty, he'd rather be anywhere else but here.


	3. iii. midnight hands.

“whatever path you take,   
wherever you might go,  
whenever you decide to leave,   
I'll follow, I'll follow.”  
– **rise against.  
  
**

“You know, you can get in a really good university one day, Lan Fan.” Ling tries to tell her as the two of them walk home in silence.

“That's not important, young lord,” she dismisses the idea of having a career. As his vassal, Lan Fan knows that her only job is to protect Ling even at the cost of death, and, honestly, she has no complaints whatsoever. She was literally _raised_ to be his trusty guard – she doesn't know what to do with her life other than protecting him. “They don't teach self-defense in university … I'm certain.”

The look on his face is a look of utter confusion. _Surely_ she's thought about her future. “Surely, you want to go to a good university one day, right? Get a good job? Have a boyfriend? Get married? Raise your future children?”

Her voice suddenly becomes quieter. “I-I never had such thoughts, my lord.”

He thinks she's lying, but she never lies. The fact that she has never had such thoughts about her future scares him, honestly. “Do you still think you'll be my bodyguard when I become the owner of Xing?” he asks, looking at her expectantly, and she replies with a simple nod. “You-You're good at science and math, Lan Fan. You could work for me as a tech developer, not a bodyguard–”

“It's not what I want,” she replies simply.

Both of them walk in silence, leaving Lan Fan to recollect her thoughts. Guarding Ling is the only thing she's ever known, and her grandfather, Fu, made it clear to her before his death that it is her duty to protect the young lord until her dying breath. Her training began at the age of seven and nine years later, at the age of sixteen, it's all she does and it's all that matters to her.

“Don't you have any friends?” asks Ling. “I mean, besides me?”

She looks at him, puzzled by the sudden question. She shakes her head. _No, not really_.

“Wait – I've seen you hanging out with the Rockbell girl … Winry, is it? Isn't she your friend?” he continues to press her for answers, not that it bothers her. He sounds concerned, and although she dislikes it when he's worried about her, the fact that he worries for her is a little … nice.

“Well, yes, but we don't really … talk outside of classes.”

Ling nods. “You always seem to be much happier when you're talking to one of your friends.”

She shrugs. “She's an interesting person.”

The two of them stop at the pedestrian lane. They would have taken the bus but Ling insisted that he needs the exercise, to which Lan Fan rolled her eyes in reply. (She supposed that it will be much easier to protect him where there will be eyewitnesses. At least, in an open street, she wouldn't be too cramped, trying to fight around people.)

“You know Edward Elric, right?” Ling asks her, and she nods. “What do you think of him?”

Edward Elric – the one Winry has a crush on. Lan Fan thinks about it for a while. She thinks he's an annoying little midget who should pay more attention to schoolwork and should tone it down on the volume. He's loud and they might have gotten off in a bad start, but she's wanted to stab him with her concealed daggers ever since the two of them met. There's a side of him that might be _okay_ , at the very least, but she doesn't like him. At all.

“He's okay, I guess.” she replies.

“How about Alphonse Elric?”

Lan Fan manages a smile. Alphonse has always been kind to her, and she once partnered up with him on a Science project, and she would be lying if she said that she disliked spending time with him. The younger Elric student worked diligently and is on the 4.0 GPA honor roll, unlike his older brother. “My opinion on him is better than my opinion on Edward, that's for sure,” she chuckles.

“I'm thinking of inviting them over,” Ling mutters as he kicks a rock repeatedly. “I mean, it's been a long time since I had Ed and Al over, and they're actually pretty cool people to hang around with. You should hang out with Winry and May that day, if you want. I know it's been a long time since you three did anything together.”

“ _May_?” Lan Fan asks disbelievingly, and Ling raises an eyebrow at her curiously, as if to say, “ _What? Did I do something wrong?_ ” “Since _when_ did you think that she and I are friends? I mean – ugh! She tried to kill me once!”

Ling is silent for a while, watching her fume, and suddenly, he starts chuckling. “You know – you showed more emotion being pissed that I mentioned her name than you ever did in our entire conversation.” he's smiling like an idiot at this point, and as much as she wants to tell him to wipe that stupid grin off his face, she can't.

It's kinda cute, anyway.

“With all due respect, _young lord,_ I am _not_ going anywhere _near_ May Chang until she becomes less hostile around me.” Lan Fan folds her arms stubbornly, and the young lord shakes his head.

“Lan Fan, we're teenagers, and you … you aren't living like one! I want you to enjoy life when you're not protecting me!” when she looks at him, she sees that his eyes look pleading, but she shakes her head. He sighs. She doesn't get it. “Being someone's bodyguard at the age of fourteen just isn't normal.” he says, his voice lowering. “If it weren't for me, you could have a normal life. You can do what other sixteen-year-old girls do.”

“Young lord, trust me when I say that it is not _necessary_.” she declares, and as much as she wants to end the conversation, he presses on, because in all honesty, he is just as stubborn as she is. Ling grows silent for a while, as if thinking about something, as if worrying about her, and Lan Fan is almost about to apologize when his eyes light up as if he just thought of an idea.

“There's a winter formal coming up soon. It's to celebrate the end of the semester and the beginning of winter break.” the young lord points out. “Fifteen dollars for a ticket. They're fund raising to purchase new laptops for the school. Heard that my dad insisted on giving the school a little discount as well.” he adds.

“How is that related to anything we just talked about?” she scoffs, and she almost hits herself for the sudden act of disrespect to her young master. She fears that he might have noticed, but he isn't reacting at all.

“I want you to go with me, Lan Fan.” he immediately requests. When greeted with the look of confusion on her face, he repeats it: “I want you to go to the summer formal with me.”

Both of them stop at their tracks. She's silent for a few seconds. Her face is burning red. She can tell that he's sincere, but negative emotions begin bubbling in her thoughts and her hands are shaking. “I've never been to a formal before – I wouldn't know what to do.” she admits.

“Come on, Lan Fan, it will be fun!” he insists, a smile on his face, and it soothes her nerves, to an extent. “And besides – you kinda have to go.”

“If I may ask, young lord … _why_?”

He smirks and begins to walk, and she follows him, catching up to his slow pace. “I mean, you _are_ my bodyguard after all, right, Lan Fan?” he raises an eyebrow, still smiling, and when she realizes it, her eyes widen. “So, will you go with me or not?”

“I-Yes,” she says softly, trying to cover her face as she turns red.

He nods, looking incredibly pleased, as Lan Fan hurries up the front porch steps of the Yao household. She raises an eyebrow upon seeing him slip his phone out of his pocket and asks, “Aren't you coming, young lord?”

“Can you go ask the cooks to prepare the tea? I have an important phone call to make.”

She looks at him suspiciously and nods, hurrying off inside the house, slipping her bookbag off in the process. He immediately dials Ed's number, and when Ed finally picks up, Ling could barely contain his excitement.

She could hear his voice as she runs off, faint, but otherwise, clear: “She said yes!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midnight Hands is a song by Rise Against.  
> My next chapter will be up soon and I promise that there will be Lingfan cuddles C: lots and lots of Lingfan cuddles! [[titled yours to hold]]  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> also if someone wants me to read their work and if it's lingfan please link it to me thanks.


	4. vi. a twist in my story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I lied about the lingfan cuddles but here have some edling bromance and ling is being such a dork and he drops his phone on his face aND THIS IS MORE EDWIN THAN LINGFAN BUT I HOPE YOU LIKE BOTH SO.  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> and it isn't titled yours to hold either wow I am a disappointment.  
> also the next chapter is called "mine" and it's in lannie's pov C:  
> AND YES THIS IS TRUE I PROMISE IM SORRY ABOUT THE LACK OF CUDDLES I WILL WRITE CUDDLES SOON DON'T WORRY.

 

“and I'm longing,  
for words to describe how I'm feeling  
I'm feeling inspired,  
my world just flip turned upside down.”  
– **secondhand serenade.  
  
**

The hours between six o'clock to eight o'clock are always awfully quiet for Ling.

He usually sits in his room, idly texting Ed on his Xing phone about nothing and everything – school, sports, missed homework, and, most often, girls. Lan Fan and Winry in particular, actually. Except it's more of Ling talking to Ed about Lan Fan than Ed talking about Winry.

Ed has had a crush on Winry for as long as Ling can remember – he has a feeling that it started in middle school, but he isn't sure. Ling knows that Ed likes to hide his feelings, but the furious blushing and the way he talks about her is obvious enough proof that he likes her.

Ed doesn't like talking about it as much as he likes talking about alchemy, though.

Ling isn't sure why Ed is so obsessed with the science – if it can be _considered_ a science. Alchemy is more of a … a magic, but the Elrics have a strange and dusty library in their house, and the entire room is filled with books on alchemy, and each of them is coated in thick layers of dust from being untouched so long until Ed discovered them in his father's study. Ling doesn't know much about it, though, usually because he doesn't listen to Ed when he talks about it.

Ling sets his Xing phone down beside him and rubs his forehead. He's had enough with the alchemy talk, and would literally talk about anything else other than alchemy, especially considering that his mind has been buzzing with thoughts of Lan Fan.

Another _ping_ is heard and Ling sighs and checks his phone for Ed's text.

 

 **ED:** _ok enough already about the alchemy talk_    [seen 6:23 pm]

 

 _Is Ed a mind reader_? Ling asks himself, utterly confused to whether this is a coincidence or not. Is this what alchemy is about? Mind-reading? Maybe Ed has some sort of psychic powers.

 

 **ED :** _youre going with lan fan to the winter formal!!_ [seen 7:23 pm]  
 **ED :** _are you at least a bit excited??_ [seen 7:23 pm]

 

Yes, he's excited – but he's not really sure how to feel about her. She's his best friend and he turns to her whenever he's afraid or worried about anything and she's loyal and brave and she's great, she really is. But he can't love her. He can't possibly love her – he has close to no experience on _love_ or whatever it is.

Maybe it's just a slight crush. Or maybe he's simply excited that he will actually be able to spend time with her and it _isn't_ work.

Ling immediately begins to type up a reply on the touchscreen.

 

 **LING :** _Well, Lan Fan's my best friend so I suppose._ [seen 7:23 pm]  
 **ED:** _seriously man?? JUST your best friend?_ [seen 7:23 pm]  
 **ED:** _ive seen her look at you_ [seen 7:23 pm]  
 **ED:** _she likes you, man_ [seen 7:23 pm]  
 **ED:** _and im betting that you like her back_ [seen 7:23 pm]

 

Admittedly, Ling begins to blush, and he's more than determined to change the subject before he starts raving about him and Lan Fan.

 

 **LING:** _Ah, well, I guess that's … correct._ [seen 7:23 pm]  
 **LING:** _And you're going with Winry, right?_ [seen 7:23 pm]

 

The future owner of Xing suddenly gets a little worried when Edward doesn't reply instantly – this usually means he got mad over something and had tossed his phone across the room. The amount of chips and scratches on Ed's phone can prove that he does this. (And Ling has been there to witness it in person once. Terrifying.)

… _How exactly could Alphonse spend an entire lifetime living with Edward alone?_ Ling wonders.

Ling hears the familiar _ping_ again and forgets all his worries.

 

 **ED :** _ahaha yeahh she tried to throw a wrench at me last I saw her_ [seen 7:26 pm]

 

Ling chuckles. _Ouch._ He's lucky that Lan Fan isn't like that, at the slightest. Not that Winry isn't a great girl – she's funny and smart and she's really pretty, but she can be quite aggressive towards the shorter Elric brother.

Lan Fan has pointed out once that Winry is only hostile towards Ed and Ed only, and it makes Ling put two and two together, and he comes to one conclusion. Winry likes Ed, and Ed happens to like her back, but the two of them are too _stupid_ to realize their feelings for each other.

 

 **LING:** _...Wait... why, exactly?_ [seen 7:27 pm]

 

Ling can almost feel Ed shrug from the other side of the screen before the familiar _ping_ can be heard once again.

 

 **ED:** _ehh beats me. She probably hates me man_ [seen 7:27 pm]  
 **ED:** _WHAT DID I EVEN DO?? SHE JUST HATES ME FOR NO REASON_ [seen 7:27 pm]  
 **LING:** _Are we just ignoring the fact that you call her a crazy gearhead 24/7?_ [seen 7:27 pm]

 

That's true – Ed often teases Winry and sometimes he takes it too far, and while Winry will look visibly upset, Ed wasn't often the best at reading emotions, and it makes Ling think that it wouldn't kill for the older Elric brother to apologize every once in a while.

The two usually make up, though, and the two of them know that they can't really afford to lose each other considering that they've known each other for as long as they can remember. Winry and Ed are in some sort of love hate relationship and nothing can really change that.

 

 **ED:** _...oh yeah that_    [seen 7:28 pm]  
 **ED:** _ughh what do I do she's not talking to me_ [seen 7:28 pm]

 

Ling sighs, getting annoyed with the older Elric. He wants to tell Ed that it's not _that_ hard to apologize to Winry for once, but the future owner of Xing knows that Ed and Winry having another argument shouldn't worry him _that_ much.

He swears that if the two of them ever date, they'd be those couples who break up and get back together every two weeks or something.

 

 **LING:** _I'll tell you what. I can ask Lan Fan to ask Winry._    [seen 7:28 pm]  
 **LING:** _I mean they're close friends._    [seen 7:28 pm]  
 **LING:** _And she's not talking to you … right?_    [seen 7:28 pm]  
 **ED:** _actually... i'll do it_    [seen 7:28 pm]

 

Ed's reply shocked Ling to the point that he drops his phone on his face. Ling re-reads the text again … and then again … just to check if he's bluffing.

 

 **LING:** ... _No, seriously?_    [seen 7:29 pm]  
 **ED:** _yeah I gtg to her house anyway_    [seen 7:29 pm]  
 **ED:** _her grandma invited me and al for dinner_    [seen 7:29 pm]  
 **ED:** _k i'll talk to you later probably_    [seen 7:29 pm]  
 **LING:** _Yeah, good luck._    [seen 7:29 pm]  
 **LING:** _If you're lucky, you're gonna show up at school tomorrow NOT INJURED and telling me that you have a date. See you tomorrow._    [seen 7:29 pm]

 

“Uh, young lord?” she startles him, honestly, and when he finally sees her by his door, he almost shouts … for Lan Fan to rid of the intruder.

“Lan Fan! I didn't even hear you come in – how did you even–!” he exclaims, surprised for a split second, then sighs. _Seriously,_ he thinks. _Lan Fan has_ got _to stop doing that and she's been doing that for the past couple years now, catching him by surprise when he's tired and he can't hear well._ He scrunches his eyebrows and asks, “How … how long have you been here, anyway?”

“The moment you dropped your phone on your face...” a small smile tugs on her lips. He almost doesn't notice it, but he's known Lan Fan for a long time to know whether she's smiling or not. She adds questioningly, “If I may ask, young lord … Who were you talking to, anyway?”

“Oh! Uh – just Ed.”

“I see,” she says, pursing her lips. “Your mother told me to call you for dinner. She also said that we have a guest and that's why dinner is … thirty minutes earlier than–” Before she finished the sentence, however, he gets up and takes her arm and drags her by the hallway.

“Hurry up, Lan Fan! We don't want to be late for dinner!”

And as the two of them run past the maids scurrying in the hallways to the dining hall, Ling could literally hear the older Elric brother's reminder: _She likes you, man. And I'm betting that you like her back._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[if you have any comments I'm replying to them here!]]
> 
>  
> 
> { Guest: Naaww. I love this story, I think it's really good. I love the AU kawaii-ness of it, it fits well. Sorry, but those two kudos were me u_u but another person kudo'd so it's all good! Keep it up please! }
> 
> [ AW THANK YOU VERY MUCH<3<3 //hugs// you're awesome and nonono I'm actually really glad you're reading my story ahhh it's nice! Yes, thank you for the support I love you anon<3 ]

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the two guests who left kudos! And it would mean a lot to me if you somehow showed me that this piece of writing is actually okay! 
> 
> [[Just a short thing about me; I'm Chris, also justfmathings and idkmanyoutellme on tumblr. Would be appreciated if you followed me - you can check if I'm still alive if I post on tumblr. And you can send me an ask if I haven't updated in a couple of weeks to remind me that I still have a fic to write. Thanks for reading! I hope you liked!]]


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